The day I arrived at URJ Crane Lake Camp at the end of July was the day that the faculty had began to discuss how we were going to talk to campers about the current tumultuous situation in Israel. In the weeks leading up to my arrival, Hamas had kidnapped three Israeli and murdered them; a group of fringe Israeli extremists brutally murdered an Arab boy as a reprisal; Israel and Hamas-governed Gaza traded rocket fire; Hamas attempted to attack Israel through an extensive network of terror tunnels; Israel sent ground troops into Gaza; and the death toll on both sides was climbing rapidly. Crane Lake Campers-- isolated from news, social media, and television—were in the dark. At the same time, Israeli counselors frequently checked the news and social media to learn about new developments, and to check the names of those injured and killed for their friends, family, and military comrades. The tension and stress among the faculty and many of the staff was palpable, but campers weren’t sure why. The faculty spent hours upon hours working with the Israeli Mishlachat (emissaries) discussing and sometimes arguing over how we were going to share and explain the current crisis in Israel. Israel conversations can become heated. Our emotions and our own political leanings can cloud our pedagogy. And the more people in the room, the more complicated a sensitive discussion can become. Our team was drawn between teaching for advocacy and creating a space for open and safe conversations about Israel. What united us, and what eventually emerged as the driving force of our programming was ahavat Yisrael, a love for Israel. For our older campers, we assembled a timeline of news clips from different media sources that reported on events beginning with the kidnappings, and going through the ground incursion into Gaza. We created a safe space for campers to ask questions and voice their opinions and concerns. Our Israeli Mishlachat (emissaries) shared their stories, often with a great deal of passion and emotion. Our rabbis, cantors, and educators, led the campers in prayers of peace. Most importantly, we worked to infuse our community with a love for Israel-- its culture, its people, its history, its land, and its government. As we expected, our campers responded with a range of questions and attitudes. We heard questions like: “What is Hamas’s goal?,” “What is the difference between Hamas and Palestinians?,” “Where is Gaza?,” “Why doesn’t Israel just destroy Gaza?,” and “What can we do to be supportive and help?” Opinions ranged from “I don’t agree with Israel’s response,” to “Israel needs to defend herself, and invading Gaza seems like the only way.” People listened to each other and they listened to the faculty. Most importantly though, when our Israeli Mishlachat shared how afraid and stressed they felt, our campers were quick to empathetically listen, and follow up with supportive hugs.

As many of you know, I just returned from a trip to Israel a few days ago. Rabbi Sisenwine invited me to share some of my thoughts with you. This trip to Israel was a unique one for me. It was a vacation – not a “study” trip, or a mission trip, or a congregational trip. It was wonderful to travel to Israel with family, to go with Doug, his brother, and his parents who were visiting Israel for the first time. So, when asked to share, my first thought was “How do I reflect upon a vacation to Israel?” But then I realized, “You can’t simply take a vacation to Israel.” Vacation, is supposed to be a complete rest. And while Israel surely provides a sense of spiritual rest (although sometimes spiritual agitation) … I don’t think one can simply travel to Israel and shut off one’s mind. And I don’t believe that one can travel to Israel without doing work (at least when it’s not Shabbat).

Here’s why. Simply traveling to Israel is taking part in building the Jewish State of Israel. Simply traveling around to visit sites is a learning experience. In fact Israel might be one of the best outdoor classrooms in the world, with more historical sites per square kilometer than any country in the world. And one can’t simply have a conversation with an Israeli (whether an Israeli Jew, Israeli Arab, or Christian) without expanding one’s horizons and viewpoints, hopefully forming a bond of relationship and connection. These are the reasons why I think visiting Israel is MORE than a vacation. It is indeed, each and every visit, a transformative experience. So, upon thinking about our trip, I do have many reflections. I’ll try to hone in on one experience, which actually relates to a few verses in this week’s Torah portion. So, a word about the Torah portion. We find ourselves in the middle of the Book of Numbers, in the middle of the Israelites’ 40 year journey through the wilderness. By this time, the Israelites have become professional kvetchers. The community rallies against Moses and Aaron. They are hungry and thirsty and tired. (Numbers 20:1-5) At the beginning of the portion, Moses disobeys God and strikes a rock from which to draw water. By the end of the portion, God assembles the people around a well so that God may give them water. And at this moment, the People of Israel sing a song (21:16-20): “Spring up, O well [we sing to you], The well which the chieftains dug, Which the sages of the people started, With tools, and with their own staffs, From Midbar to Mattanah, from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamot…” My have the Israelites matured! Instead of hitting a rock out of frustration to acquire water against God’s will, they gather on God’s command and they pray for the blessing of water to spring forth from the well. But they acknowledge that while God might have the power to create such a blessing, this blessing is better earned through hard work, patience, commitment, and team work. They acknowledge the work of their ancestors in digging wells throughout their journey in the wilderness. This is precisely the spiritual value that struck me after returning from my recent trip to Israel. Israel is not simply an entity that we can wish into being simply because we thirst and hunger for a free homeland of our own. No! Our ancestors picked up the tools and the staffs, worked the land, restored Hebrew as the language of our people, created a democracy of State, and defended Israel’s right to exist as a nation. And our Israeli brothers and sisters continue to innovate and cultivate to ensure that Israel thrives as a modern Jewish nation with much to contribute to the world. In return, Israel nourishes us, satiates our spiritual thirsts, providing us with immeasurable value. These are the reasons that I think you can’t simply take a vacation to Israel. Because, there’s still too much to do! And more importantly, it’s our obligation to take part in building and sustaining Israel each and every day. So, I’ll share just one way that I think we contributed to the continued building of the State of Israel on this trip….and surely a few ways that I personally was spiritually nourished by our journey. On our first day in Israel, I met with Anat Hoffman, the director of the Israel Religious Action Center to follow-up after her visit to TBE in April. She sends her regards and shared that she feels blessed to be in relationship with a congregation that is so forward-thinking, passionate, and vibrant. Anat has proposed several ways that our community can continue to partner with her to create a more pluralistic society in Israel. I will be excited to work with our Israel Connections Team this summer to hone in on several specific areas of action. We look forward to presenting these ideas and partnering with the entire congregation in the fall. Sitting in Anat’s office was an experience in and of itself. She and her small, but far-reaching team, represent the human and civil values of the entire Reform movement in Israel. They work out of a few rooms on the 2nd floor of our rabbinical school in Jerusalem. In fact, they’re tucked away in the College’s Archeological building. But, Anat and her team are in the middle of, at the heart of, making positive political and social change in Israel. I spent a lot of time studying the artwork on Anat’s walls, for she left the office 3 times during my visit to take a call from the Office of the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister’s staff was calling to keep Anat up-to-date on several threats to her life and threats to the well-being of The Women of the Wall who were to gather 6 days later for a Rosh Chodesh service at the Kotel, the Western Wall. As you’ve learned, Women of the Wall gather monthly at the Wall to affirm their rights and any woman’s right to pray out loud, wear a tallit or t’fillin, or read Torah at the Wall. But the Haredi Ultra-Orthodox Movement has countered to disrupt the women’s prayer services, often with violence and acts of hatred. So, Anat asked me if I was going to join Women of the Wall for their next service, knowing that I would still be in town. I looked at one piece of artwork on the wall. Actually it was a framed backpack from the Jerusalem Municipal Jail that read “Prisoner’s belongings.” The name scratched on the backpack was “Anat Hoffman.” She caught me looking at the backpack and smiled, explaining that this was her souvenir from her most recent arrest after praying aloud at the Wall and proudly wearing her Women of the Wall tallit. (Actually, it was THIS exact tallit that Anat wore that morning.) And as she reminded me of her heroic act, I told her that I had already planned to join the Women at the Wall in a few days. I had attended Women of the Wall gatherings before, but little did I realize when I committed to joining this time and invited my mother-in-law to join me for her first experience at the Wall, that this time would be so different. For the first time in Women of the Wall’s 25 year history, the organization asked all participants to register. Because of the threats that had come in, they didn’t want any Woman of the Wall supporter to arrive at the Wall by themselves. So, they arranged for buses to bring us into the Old City together. Perhaps we all would have enjoyed the solidarity and feeling of traveling together into the Old City… if it wasn’t a POLICE escort that our caravan required for protection. You see, 2 months ago, Women of the Wall won a historic decision. An Israeli court instructed police to protect all who pray at the Wall and STOP detaining women for performing religious rites at the Wall. So, this month, in light of the threats and with the help of the court’s ruling, Women of the Wall were not arrested by police, but rather escorted by police. Eight of our buses arrived outside the Western Wall gates. Already we could see the barricades the police had set up in order to keep away the screaming protestors. Female police officers lead us past security, into a private entrance near the Temple Mount. While I was busy surveying the scene and saying a little prayer for our safety, the hundreds of women surrounding me began to sing. It was evident that we were not only going to position ourselves in front of the wall for a service, but we were going to clearly, loudly, and proudly sing our way there as well! With words of God’s praise, we drowned out screams, hisses, and protests. I refocused on our task at hand, celebrating the new month on this beautiful morning. When we reached the Kotel plaza we were met by another surprise, police had cordoned off half of the women’s section for our use by setting up more barricades. You might say, how nice, Women of the Wall were finally given their own section of the Wall to pray in peace! But in reality, this was not a win. The barricades were set up with female police officers guarding it every 2 feet to separate us from the rest of those gathered at the Wall that morning. The barricades kept the female protestors from inflicting harm upon us. 3oo of us crammed into this barricaded space. Unfortunately it felt like a cage. But, our leaders refocused our energy as we began our service with the singing of the morning psalms. We prayed our way through the entire service and at times I could even hear groups of men from across the plaza singing the same psalms. I thanked God that we could join our voices with others who peacefully prayed in their own way, too. But of course, our voices were matched by hisses and shouts during each part of the service, especially when a young bride stood on a chair surrounded and protected by all of us as she loudly chanted the week’s Torah portion from a chumash, not a scroll but a book. (We were not allowed to bring the scroll that morning.) We again drowned out the protestors with shouts of Siman Tov u’Mazel tov! The leaders of Women of the Wall concluded our service with prayers for peace and equality and Anat drew things to a close with the singing of Hatikvah. “As long as the heart within a Jewish soul still yearns…and towards the East an eye gazes toward Zion. Our hope is not yet lost, the hope of 2,000 years, to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.” Looking back at just this one experience in Israel, I realize that hope alone cannot make a difference. Just like our Torah portion teaches us, the People of Israel could not simply hope for water or stand at the feet of a well and sing, they had to pick up shovels, they had to endure difficult feelings, they had to sweat and they had to work. So, too, is my prayer for us. That when we thirst and hunger for connection with Israel, we don’t just sit and gaze towards Zion. There’s much more work and building to do. I hope that you will take part in this sacred and fruitful work with us. I invite your conversation and your thoughts, as I know our Israel Connection Team does as well. We invite you to share the link to this blog post and dialogue with others. And as a result of our efforts and our work, may we see, as a community and as a united People, the well-spring, that is the land of Israel, nourish and sustain us for years to come. Ken y’hi ratzon. May this be God’s will.

By Hannah Elbaum and Noam KahnTikkun Olam, Jewish Identity, Leadership and Israel. These values of the Diller Teen Fellows are present in everything we do. In eight North American cities, and eight Israeli cities, 20 sophomores and juniors apply and are chosen to be part of this amazing 15-month experience. We (Hannah Elbaum and Noam Kahn) were accepted last spring to be a part of the Boston cohort, a total of twenty teenagers from all around the greater Boston area.

To develop our leadership skills, learn more about Judaism, both traditionally and spiritually, and explore our relationship with Israel, the cohort meets for monthly workshops and goes on three retreats. We are joined by the Israeli teens (Haifa cohort) in March for a 10-day North American Seminar and the three-week Summer Israel Seminar. The Israel Seminar is not just a teen tour trip, it is truly an in depth look at Israel, the people, history and our own connections to the Holy Land. At the end of the fifteen months, the fellows work in small groups to develop our very own Tikkun Olam projects, using the skills we have learned. Due to the pluralistic emphasis of the program, during all our programs and events we keep kosher and respect each other’s religious observances. Because each person has their own level of traditional observance, it is a learning experience for all of us, either to be with people who do not touch the light switch on Shabbat, to those who feel comfortable texting their friends.

So far, we have had two workshops and one retreat. Our workshops are generally four hours long and at the JCC of Boston, consisting of thought provoking, yet incredibly fun programs, and time for us to get to know each other better. In our last one, we had a “Jewish Identity Buffet.” We each took slips of paper from a long table that had statements we agreed with or believed, and left the ones we did not agree with or understand. (There was candy that we got to eat, too.) After small group discussions of our choices, we came back together as a group and spent some time talking about some surprising discoveries. We also spend time learning about each other much more informally, with games like “The Wind Blows For…” and “5 Minute Hot Seat.” One of the very first things we did at the first workshop was to write letters to ourselves that we will read at the end of out fifteen-month journey. For our next workshop, we participated in a day of Jewish learning run by LimmudBoston.In November, we had our first retreat! It was amazing for all of us to spend a solid 48 hours together and really bond as a group. There were too many amazing programs and moments to list here, so we will just mention a few. At our first workshop we created a list of ten different qualities we want to have as a group. We had a “Chalk Talk” (actually a Marker Talk, but that doesn’t sound as fun), with each trait on a piece of paper. After being given a marker, we walked up to the papers and wrote times during our retreat where we saw them in action.

Later that evening, we did a trust walk where each person, blindfolded, was placed in a line and instructed to hold the hand of the person next to them. With a staff leader and a few called out direction (“There is a tree of your left, and a puddle on your right”) we made our way slowly through the woods, putting all our trust in the person leading us. Reaching the gym and walking down a flight of stairs, we were separated, giving us a sense of trusting each and every person, as we did not know who was in front of us. We were placed spaced out in the pitch-black gym and given glow sticks to crack as we answered what our goals, and then fears are for this year. Then we had a campfire with s’mores!

This activity was part of that night’s Maagal Lila, a circle we do every night. These times are when we learn more about each other as people, and not just our religious practices, or opinions on today’s controversial issues. The best part? Maagal Lila ends with hugs for everyone!

There is no way to explain how close we have gotten with these people without us pretty much melting into a pile of goo, explaining how much we love them. None of us realized on Friday that we were more or less still strangers to each other, and within about 2 hours, that had changed. Living in such close proximity, as well as being Shomer Shabbos (keeping Shabbat) allowed us to develop relationships that made us not want to leave on Sunday afternoon. None of us really know how that happened, we just know that it did, and now we are all best friends.

Hannah Elbaum is a sophomore at Newton South High School. Hannah currently serves as Vice President of Religion and Culture on the BELY Board, is an active member of Havayah: the Teen Community at Temple Beth Elohim, and spent last summer at Kutz: NFTY's Campus for Reform Jewish Teens. You can read her blog post about that, too!

Noam Kahn is a junior at Needham High School. Noam currently serves as the Chanukah Carnival Co-Chair on the BELY Board, and as an active member of Havayah: the Teen Community at Temple Beth Elohim.

Temple Beth Elohim is extremely proud of our teens who are involved in the Greater Boston Jewish community! Visit the Boston JCC website to learn more about the JCC Diller Teen Fellowship, or speak to Hannah, Noam, or a member of the TBE Youth Programs Team.

As our teens arrived on Friday afternoon, we were quickly reminded of why our Havayah community is so special. Dropping their luggage, participants eagerly greeted each other and transitioned into some teen-led mixer activities to launch our Shabbaton. Shabbatonim (retreats) are one of the highlights of the Havayah program, with TBE teens in Grades 8-10 coming together as a community at camp or a local retreat center for incredible, relaxing Shabbat weekends of learning, community-building and fun! Together with members of our clergy and the TBE Youth Programs team, teens participate in Shabbat services, engage in social and team-building activities, and spend free time with friends (both old and new).

This year, our Shabbaton curriculum is focused on the theme of SEEKER, asking the questions:

What am I looking for as a Jewish teen?How do I find my unique place in the community?How do I connect with God and spirituality?What are the challenges in my life today, and how can I find support and meaning in Judaism?

Shabbat dinner is always a highlight at our Shabbatonim, as we gather as a community to welcome Shabbat, eat, spend time with friends, sing songs and appreciate the kehilah kedoshah (holy community) that we have built.

Our programming on Saturday focused on identifying and strengthening the connections we have in our lives, that we have with ourselves, each other, the communities we belong to, the places we spend time at...in addition to the connections we seek to create and build in the future. Many thanks to our teens for helping to build what is truly a kehilah kedoshah (holy community). The sacred space and moments we create together are inspiring and motivating. Also, we have a number of juniors and seniors who help create, write, implement and lead the programming that goes on at our Shabbatonim. It is largely because of their dedication and creativity that we continue to raise the bar for our teen community, and we are consistently amazed at how talented and passionate they are.

In addition to our programming and Shabbat experience, we had the opportunity to briefly discuss and reflect on the current situation in Israel. Our prayers and hearts are certainly with our friends, family and the people of Israel, and we pray for peace and a speedy resolution. Emily Langowitz, a TBE member and proud Havayah alumna who is currently in her first year of Rabbinical School at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, is spending the year studying in Jerusalem. She took a few moments to share some of her thoughts with our teens, and encouraged us to educate ourselves, keep asking questions and stay informed. See below to hear Emily's remarks:

Havayah Seeker Playlist

Check back soon for links to the songs we sang and listened to during the Shabbaton!

Shalom TBE! This summer I traveled throughout Israel for a month hopping from hotel to kibbutz to sleeping under the stars. Traveling with NFTY, the North American Federation for Temple Youth was more than I could have ever imagined. I traveled with a group of 43 American Jewish teenagers whom I had never met previous to arriving at JFK for the departure to Prague. After a few icebreakers and a week of learning about our Jewish culture and history in Eastern Europe, our group had been transformed into a family. After that week in Europe, I had connected with my group and had been prepared for my arrival in Israel. One of the most memorable moments for me was a rafting trip down the Jordan River. We were asked to behave ourselves, but as a group we decided it would be more fun to play pirates (stealing each other’s paddles, hopping from boat to boat, etc.) Being surrounded by my favorite people in the world, it was hard to not enjoy the moment, but every time it got quiet we soon realized we could hear the explosions from the civil war in Syria. I can recall talking with my friends about how rafting was the happiest moment of our entire trip, and the trip being the best experience of our lives, meanwhile we could hear the detonations of a war in which people were evidently not as happy as we were. It was somewhat of a reality check, but in the moment we were not be affected by it. It was eye opening to realize how lucky we are and how thankful I am to be able to have traveled to my homeland as a Jew and to not once have felt threatened by anyone. Coming home from a trip like NFTY in Israel was one of the hardest things I have ever done. The weirdest part was walking into my kitchen and eating whatever I wanted from the fridge at any given time. But other than that, I had to adjust to coming home to the USA while having extreme withdrawal from my closest friends. This trip to Israel had changed me as a person and a member of the Jewish community. I have new understanding of our traditions and teachings, and how I choose to apply them to my life. The NFTY in Israel L’Dor V’Dor curriculum asks each participant to make choices for themselves about their personal Jewish lifestyle through examples of the Jewish people throughout history. Traveling through Israel in any fashion is a wonderful experience, but I truly believe had I not traveled with NFTY, I would not have gained a full understanding of who I am as a Reform Jew living in this modern world. So, I tried to find one picture to somewhat captures the essence of the trip (see below), and although it doesn’t show a smile, or friends and doesn’t exactly relate to Judaism, this is a picture my friend Rachel took while we sprinted down Masada. To me, this picture is Israel (with me in it). Well, that’s the end of my blog post, if you have any questions, want to listen to stories or if YOU want to go to Israel with NFTY, contact me!

Stephanie Seiden is a junior from Newton, and currently serves as one of BELY's NFTY Northeast Representatives. Stephanie is a fantastic resource to learn more about ways to engage at TBE and in NFTY!